Although restroom facilities have been modified for use by physically disabled persons with, for example, the addition of bars, rails and wider stalls, there is still a certain group of persons, namely, persons confined to wheelchairs, for whom restrooms remain difficult if not impossible to use. These persons usually wear leg bags into which they discharge their urine. A leg bag is normally attached to a shin or calf area of the user's legs and must be periodically emptied into a toilet facility which is typically done while the user is seated in the wheelchair facing the toilet facility. It is difficult, however, for persons confined to wheelchairs to empty their leg bags in present toilet facilities because the leg bag must be placed in close proximity to a rim of the toilet in order to be emptied. At the present time, persons confined to wheelchairs who use leg bags accomplish this act by lifting their legs and resting them on a rim of the toilet facility. However, because toilets are usually made of porcelain or other slick materials and because these persons do not have muscle control in their legs, the leg frequently slips off the toilet rim thereby causing an unsanitary condition. Thus, there is an urgent need for a foot and heel support system which will allow a person seated facing a toilet facility to place his or her foot on a footrest adjacent to the toilet facility and to eliminate the contents of a leg bag while the foot is supported in a stable and comfortable position.
Toilet facilities having footrests are known in the prior art. For example, Romer, U.S. Pat. No. 1,798,632 discloses a toilet facility having a U-shaped footrest resting on a floor and slanting downward towards the rear of a toilet to enable a person to assume the squatting position while using the toilet facility. Likewise, Catchings, U.S. Pat. No. 1,155,885; Finlay, U.S. Pat. No. 2,250,060 and Kristoffersen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,797 discloses toilet facilities having substantially flat footrests positioned on either side of a toilet to enable a person to assume the squatting position while using the toilet. Moulder, U.S. Pat. No. 1,972,233 discloses a toilet facility having multiple seats and a flat footrest to enable use of the facility by smaller children. Griffith, U.S. Pat. No. 1,668,242 discloses a toilet device having a footrest which moves a person seated in a wheelchair on to a toilet facility to enable use of that facility. Bruzenak, U.S. Pat. No. 2,182,979 discloses a toilet facility including handrails which facilitates use of the facility in the squatting position. None of these prior art references, however, discloses a footrest adapted to be used by a person while seated in a chair facing the toilet facility or a footrest that allows a person to empty a leg bag from a seated position in front of the toilet facility with a foot located in a stable and comfortable position.